Batch file to count file types in sub directories

Question

I need a batch file that counts certain file types in sub directories. In this case it's .txt and .xls files. At the end of the file it reports this back.

@echo off
REM get script directory
set scriptdir=%~dp0
REM change directory to script directory
cd /d %scriptdir%
setlocal
set txtcount=0
set xlscount=0
for %%x in ('dir *.txt /s ) do set /a txtcount+=1
for %%x in ('dir *.xls /s ) do set /a xlscount+=1
echo %txtcount% text files
echo %xlscount% .xls files
endlocal
pause

My batch file doesn't report back the correct count of files. I thought it might be continually counting but I've set the count variables to local so I'm not sure what's up.

Answer 1

There's three problems with your script:

• You want to iterate over command output, so you need FOR /F
• You're not using the "bare" /B format, i.e. DIR outputs more than just filenames
• You're missing the closing single quote twice

Replace your loops with this:

FOR /F %%X IN ('DIR /S /B *.txt') DO SET /A "txtcount+=1"
FOR /F %%X IN ('DIR /S /B *.xls') DO SET /A "xlscount+=1"